Luca Evans (OC Register) — LOS ANGELES — Jay Fair never really had a handshake with someone before he came to USC.
Sure, he might have slapped hands with a fellow receiver, back when he was at Auburn. But not like this.
After finding a rhythm with veteran Kyron Hudson on Thursday, Fair has checked off individual, customized handshakes with every wideout in USC’s room. He still lags behind. Sophomores Zachariah Branch and Ja’Kobi Lane have between 15 and 20 with various members of the program.
There is a pride in this, evident in the smile on Branch’s face Thursday. Fingers lock in intricate two-step dances across practice turf, claps and sways as complicated as the routes they memorize from Lincoln Riley’s playbook. Branch, the sophomore burner, recently struck up a new routine with Georgetown grad transfer Asante Das – only to find it was too complex for the sticky gloves they wore.
“The part we do it is like this,” Branch mimed Thursday, pretending to interlace and twist his fingers, “and our hands keep getting stuck. So I’m like, ‘All right, don’t really grab my pinky.”
For a few minutes each morning at Howard Jones Field, USC’s fall camp briefly transforms into an exhibition for the exuberance of a youthful receiver room. They will hit their handshakes, trotting between pass-catching lines. They will shout for a student assistant to switch the song booming over loud field speakers, and sometimes Branch or sophomore Makai Lemon will run over to the aux (cable) and take DJ matters into their own hands. They will show off in individuals, Lane stretching every inch of his 6-foot-4 frame in a vertical leap or Branch reaching cross-body for a one-armed pluck.
Fair, too, didn’t feel much stability within his offense before he came to USC, finishing as Auburn’s second-leading receiver with just 324 yards in 2023. That’s changed, with the sophomore talent surrounding him at USC. They are ready – all of them, from Branch to Lane to Lemon to Duce Robinson – for expanded roles, and show it those mornings on Howard Jones.
But even in a spread-out Riley offense, there are only so many mouths to feed.
“I just think it’s always about football and winning games,” Lane said in late July. “So, if I don’t get to touch the ball and we still win, it’s not that big of a deal.”
In the spring, prospective starting quarterback Miller Moss smiled and shrugged when asked what a team with his DNA looked like. I guess we’ll see, he said then. Months later, standing and representing USC inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Moss was asked again the aspects of his mentality he wanted the program to take on.
He hoped the group was selfless, he responded, speaking directly of his skill guys.
“I think that, especially in the offseason ball, is really key to success, especially when you have a lot of guys that are going to demand – and rightfully so – a lot of touches,” Moss told the Southern California News Group. “And they’re obviously very talented, and entitled to want that.”
Branch, after an All-American season as a true freshman returner in 2023, has been praised by Riley and teammates alike for his progression in his IQ as a receiver. The lanky Lane’s development, after a two-touchdown performance in the Holiday Bowl and an offseason putting on 15 pounds, has been “crazy,” as Branch put it. Lemon’s precision and cuts on route-running have popped off the turf in camp. The 6-foot-6 Robinson could emerge as a red-zone threat.
Add in Fair from Auburn, USC-turned-UCLA-turned-USC returnee Kyle Ford, and a steady-handed returner like Hudson, and that battle for touches will persist through December.
“I think the guys in the room that we have now, they aren’t selfish at all, so I mean, they want to see everybody win,” Fair said in July. “And I think the staff of Lincoln Riley, in the past, they’ve done a great job of being able to use multiple pieces in their offense.”
Moss, stepping into the limelight in the post-Caleb Williams era, has taken it upon himself to coalesce an eclectic group. On Father’s Day, with Lane’s and Robinson’s dads back in Arizona, Moss brought the two young receivers to his father’s home in Los Angeles, dad Eric Owen Moss said. And the first time Fair met the group after arriving in the spring, too, was after Moss sent a group-text inviting all his receivers to throw down in Orange County.
“That moment alone right there just kinda told me, ‘OK, I see what this team’s about, I see what type of guy he is,’” Fair said of Moss. “Because ultimately, coming in as a transfer, you don’t really expect to kinda have that feeling of, ‘OK, I’m meshing with the guys already.’”
The handshakes help, too. There’s quite a few now for Fair to remember, if he finds the end zone come fall.
“Hopefully,” he smiled Thursday, “it’ll just be muscle memory.”
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I have concerns about this years team, but picking the Trojans 10th, behind Northwestern, seems a little over the top. Did he consult Paul Finebaum before developing these rankings?
Ya, here’s a prediction for NW to go 3-9 (1-8) from SaturdayTradition.com.
SaturdayTradition.com
They have to play both OHIO ST and MICH, as well as UW, WIS and IOWA away. So ya, I don’t see the Wildcats going 5-4, 7-5 this season like Stewart does. But Stewart’s a NW grad, so maybe he couldn’t help himself!
I don’t think USC going 7-5 is a stretch at all. Could well happen. But I am not buying that there are 9 teams in the conference better than the Trojans. Think about it- SC 10, Washington 12, fucla 17, and MSU( coached by former OSU coach Jonathan Smith) 18.
Perhaps Mandel didn’t realize that last year might have been the PAC 12 best ever. Perhaps he should do some research next time.
Mandel’s been right about USC football much more than the average USC football fan over the years. I don’t always agree with him, just as none of us always agree with each other. But I’ve been around him a fair amount over the last 25 or so years, and he’s one of the smartest, most well-researched, insightful sports people or writers I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. He’s one of the major start-up guys for The Athletic and they sold themselves to the New York Times, hitting it big. The NYT doesn’t buy a new outside sports section from… Read more »
Mandel has solid credentials, but I still think some of his picks are silly. The knock on SC has been no defense, and poor play vs. elite teams. Iowa( picked 3rd) has not had an offense for years. Last year, their best win was against Wisconsin, and they lost to Minnesota. Against the only good competition( Tennessee/Michigan/Penn State) they got blown out every time, way worse than SC. A little consistency in his critique would be nice.
Mandel doesn’t consider the USC offense making much difference in playing against these Big Ten teams. My question is how much speed to a lot of these Big Ten teams have on defense
People don’t think USC can run the ball against good teams, rendering the Trojan offense one-dimensional.
That approach doesn’t work against the better, tougher, bigger, more talented teams, regardless of speed.
USC lists only 4 RBs. Is Woody Marks any good? Hard to run the ball if there is nobody to give it to.
Woody Marks is good and also catches well, as I’m sure you already know.
The Trojan O-line is the huge question mark, as everyone also knows.
Woody’s highlights
Wish we had a couple more like him.
Big Ten Predictions (Stewart Mandel, The Athletic) 1) Ohio State (Big Ten) 9-0, (Overall) 12-0 2) Oregon 7-2, 10-2 Don’t expect much of a drop-off from Bo Nix to Oklahoma transfer Dillon Gabriel, who could have a field day throwing to Tez Johnson and Texas A&M transfer Evan Stewart. He’ll benefit from an offensive line that allowed just five sacks last season. The defense needs to take a step up for the Ducks to win the conference. Dan Lanning made some nice adds in the portal. 3) Iowa 7-2, 9-3 4) Michigan 7-2, 9-3 5) Penn State 6-3, 9-3 6) Rutgers 6-3, 8-4 7)… Read more »
Wow…..USC has the same record as Northwestern. Hopefully the results on the field differ .
USC football and Lincoln Riley lost some regard from the CFB media last year.
Losing badly to all the good competition when you have the best CFB QB and an easy #1 pick will have that effect.
Many Trojan fans don’t like to hear it, and demonstrably think it’s unfair. But that’s “the reality” in the eyes of most CFB fans and media.
The other reality is that USC is perceived as being weak in the trenches, especially on offense, where we lack depth and elite, already developed talent at many spots.
The sportswriters can predict all they want on how a team will play this season based on what happened a year ago. But in reality they are guessing every bit as much as anyone. Most if not all Big Ten teams USC plays this season will not assume it will be an easy game to win. And in fact will fear the Trojans could score some 40 plus points on them and wonder if their own team’s offense can score that many. USC has a long standing reputation that maybe two other conference programs can match and that reputation runs… Read more »
But most sportswriters are simply not biased, as USC fans usually are. Your average CFB writer is simply trying to get it right. That’s their job, as well as their reputation, and very few of them are anti-USC based on my experience inside the media for nearly 30 years. Many USC fans tend to quickly devalue USC opponents that don’t have big football reps, like RUT and most recently NEB. I think these games are going to be potential losses for rebuilding USC, whereas the hard core Trojan fan seems to automatically count them as Trojan victories, which is why… Read more »
If a Rutgers, Northwestern or even a Minnesota beats us then LR is really going to feel the heat from the fanbase due to his chosen direction of rebuilding the program and its results these first 3-years. It will be Tollner, Smith & Hackett all over again in their eyes. With MG you had 3-years to show the program was winning. What will Jen do if she starts seeing the home games are not full of fans?
I was just talking the other day with a Trojan fan who said that Lincoln Riley reminded him of Larry Smith.
LR’s got his work cut out for him, regardless of whether one thinks of him as an offensive genius who has finally seen the light about how to correctly rebuild USC or not.
I wonder Allen if LR realizes the urgency here to satisfy the alumns & fickle fanbase in turning this program around? If these Big Ten programs do humble the team this season, I can see Jen having no choice but put LR on a make or break 2025 outcome to keep his job.
Jen Cohen is a superstar. I trust her to handle USC athletics.
I think 2025 will be a terrific year for USC football and LR.
I agree. I think 2024 will be a greatly improved defense and also a better offense. We may not have a better QB but we will have a better offense. No more hero ball from Caleb. Even Phil Steele from ‘College Football Preview’ magazine recently said that. Caleb robbed that offense of it’s rythm by hanging onto the ball.
So he has USC 1-1 against LSU and ND, but has USC losing 4 in Big10. Outside of Michigan and Penn St. who does he think Trojans lose to? He thinks a lot of Rutgers, Wisconsin and Nebraska. Guess he thinks we go 1-2 against them? I think SC will be better on the OL than people think, at least in the first half of the season. Depth is lacking on OL and pretty thin at RB.
Moss can go down as one of the all time beloved players in our history. He’s stuck it out, now it’s his turn. If he can play to a typical CLR QB, he will be everyone’s favorite. No need to fill Caleb’s shoes, nobody can, just do his own thing and win!
having a whole bunch of talented dudes to throw to is a huge bonus.
If somehow, someway our OL can keep Moss’s face out of the dirt……these dudes are going to scare every defensive coordinator we face into nightmares.
For example…..The speed, hands and moves I saw last year from Branch was Reggie Bush like. All he needs is confidence that comes from experience and a game plan that works.
USC will be in every game if Moss gets the time……and there is a good chance he will.
I want to see catches( holding onto the ball ) in games and downfield blocking to lengthen the yardage gained in plays.